Tuesday, June 12, 2018

June 12 #OnThisDay in #Australian #History

1822 - Colebee from Richmond married Kitty, aged 13, from the Warmuli (Prospect Clan), a student at the Native Institution.

1826 -In the first recorded use of gas lighting in Oz, Pitt St, Sydney shopkeeper J.T Wilson blinded his rivals, and the general public, when he installed it in his shop.

1871 - NSW Government tossed a measly £30,000 for the fortification of Sydney Harbour.

1872 - The Melbourne Branch of the Royal Mint began spitting out the coins and folding stuff.

1883 – The first Australasian headquarters of the Salvation Army opened in Melbourne.

1886 - The Shearer's Union was formed during a meeting that was a tad more than tea and scones at Fern's Hotel in Ballarat.

1889 - The Australian Labour Federation was formed in Brisbane.

1902 - They knew when they were beaten, those men, so the Commonwealth Franchise Act came into force, which gave all the females of the species the right to vote in federal elections.
Except those gals who were aboriginal....or from any of the Pacific Islands....or Asia...or Africa...

1903 - A knees-up was held by a group of barristers in the chambers of the then Queensland Attorney-General, Sir Arthur Rutledge KC, where they resolved to form a Bar Association.
Not the liquid refreshment sort of bar.

1911 - Those delectable steam tram thingies began tootling along the Sutherland to Cronulla Tramway Line (NSW).

1912 - The Port Douglas and Mossman Record announced that Dick and Ernest C. Hannaford, who had a photographer’s studio further up Mill Street, were arranging for picture shows with their own ‘apparatus’ in the hall, with occasional visits to Port Douglas.
Should we wonder at the 'apparatus'.....perhaps not.

1914 - The Illawarra Coke Company opened a set of sidings to serve their coke ovens on the other side of the main line, coal being supplied from the Coal Cliff mine by an overhead conveyor.
We won't comment on mainlining the coke....

1915 - Aspirin was first made in Australia by 31-year old Melbourne Pharmacist George Richard Rich Nicholas under the name Aspro.

1931 - Some silly bugger thought that the Northern Territory was too large to be governed. So in 1927 the Northern Territory was split into two territories, North Australia and Central Australia. However, on this day the two were reunited in Holy Matrimony as the Northern Territory.

1933 - Twelve Police Cadets, the sons of serving Policemen, were appointed to the NSW Police Force and attached to various sections and metropolitan city stations.

1954 - The first engine of the Central Australia Railway, NSU51, was officially placed in service and named George McLeay (the Federal Minister for Shipping) by his wife in a special ceremony at Port Augusta.

2001 - Turn out your drawers, Aunt Gertrude, the Parliament of Victoria offered a $50,000 reward for the return of the Victorian mace.
It's only been 'mislaid' since 1891.

2007 - PM John Howard agreed to meet the Dalai Lama after opponents charged he was afraid of offending China, drawing an immediate rebuke from Beijing. The Dalai Lama warned major nations not to try to contain China's economic and military rise, and urged countries like Australia to use their trading clout to pressure Beijing on human rights.

2007 - Outraged victims in the Hunter and Central Coast areas north of Sydney said looters raided abandoned houses, businesses and cars during four days of violent storms, stealing everything from iPods to alcohol and cigarettes.

2015 - Allegations were aired that officials of the Australian Security Intelligence Service had paid people smugglers to take 65 asylum seekers intercepted on the seas back to Indonesia. The Australian Government refused to comment on these claims “for security reasons”.